Click through the slideshow to see the most unbelievable California animal stories of 2017.

Click through the slideshow to see the most unbelievable California animal stories of 2017.

Photo: John Hanna

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Baby jackrabbit rescued from the cold in Tracy - January 19

A baby jackrabbit was found shivering in the cold by a Tracy woman walking her dog. The jackrabbit was badly malnourished when it was found, but Wildcare nursed it back to health in its first baby animal rescue of the year. FULL STORY

Gene Mace caught a terrifying encounter on camera when a great white shark attacked a kayaker in Monterey Bay. In the video, Mace can be heard telling his wife that the kayaker was pushed into the water by a shark. FULL STORY

A rare piebald dolphin called "Patches" was once again spotted off the California coast. The dolphin had been spotted as far south as San Diego and as far north as Santa Cruz Island in Santa Barbara County. FULL STORY

Boat collides with humpback whale in near the Golden Gate Bridge - June 30

A boater appeared to collide with a humpback whale, according to a photo taken near the Golden Gate Bridge. May and June saw a large number of humpback whales enter the bay. "I've been in this game for a lot of decades, and this is the first time I've heard of this many humpbacks coming in this far," Mary Jane Schramm, spokeswoman for the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, told The Chronicle. FULL STORY

A group of boaters set out on Folsom Lake for a relaxing ride on the water. An unexpected stowaway quickly dashed those plans.
Anthony Baciocco, 19, and four friends took off just after 6 p.m. when a rattlesnake began bobbing alongside their boat. FULL STORY

It was a close call for another humpback whale in the San Francisco Bay.
Video taken from the Golden Gate Bridge by Lauri Duke showed a whale rolling out of the way as a sailboat approached. FULLY STORY

The sound of fireworks didn't rouse a California woman from sleep on July 4. Instead, the crash of a mountain lion hopping through her apartment window did.
Upon breaking through the window, the cat landed atop the woman slumbering in her bed. FULL STORY

A man in Palmdale (Los Angeles County) discovered a snake in his bathtub after reportedly mistaking it for a rag and grabbing it. FULL STORY

California man accidentally finds snake in his bathtub - July 16

A man in Palmdale (Los Angeles County) discovered a snake in his bathtub after reportedly mistaking it for a rag and grabbing it. FULL STORY

Photo: Aaron Ansarov/Getty Images/Aurora Creative

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Squeamish Solano County coroner struggles to pick up dead snake - July 17

Solano County Deputy Coroner Amy Thurau examines dead humans for a living, but can't seem to handle dead snakes.
In a video posted to Facebook by the Solano County Sheriff's office, Thurau is seen struggling to pick up and remove a dead snake from the road. FULL STORY

Great white shark swims with paddleboarders off the SoCal coast - July 19

How would you react if you saw the fin of a great white shark pop up in the ocean next to you?
Francesca Nash was pretty calm when a juvenile great white approached her paddleboard at Santa Claus Beach in Carpinteria (Santa Barbara County). FULL STORY

Police in Riverside County arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of bank robbery and found more than they had hoped for while searching his home. Police found and removed 35 dogs (including seven small puppies) from the man's house while searching the premises for evidence related to a bank robbery. FULL STORY

It enters by the nostrils, wiggles upwards through olfactory pathways and plants itself in the brain. Once invaded, victims can't be treated and will most certainly die.
The parasite, called Miamiensis avidus, is the pathogen most likely responsible for 2017's mass die-offs of several Bay Area fish species. FULL STORY

A family in Ridgecrest (Kern County) got quite the scare when they discovered a family of venomous snakes living inside their children's plastic playhouse in their backyard.
Animal Control Officer Shawna Villa-Rodriguez responded to the call and found not one, but 19 sidewinder rattlesnakes under the playhouse. FULL STORY

Nearly 100 bushy-tailed babies fell from their arbor nests and, eventually, landed at the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA (PHS/SPCA) in Burlingame for rehabilitation. Tree trimming was likely to blame. FULL STORY

Kittens left for dead in cooler bag rescued in San Rafael - September 2

A litter of kittens left for dead on a boat in San Rafael — two of them secured in a cooler bag that had been zipped shut — were rescued in San Rafael Yacht Harbor. The kittens were transported to Marin Humane to be examined by a vet. FULL STORY

A San Francisco man on his rowboat in the bay was approached by something much bigger than his vessel.
Phil Reiff was stunned when a humpback whale tail splashed out of the water only about 20 feet away from him. FULL STORY

Karen Davis-Brown of Petaluma spotted an alligator in her backyard, but chose her words very carefully when describing what she saw to Petaluma Animal Services.
"I wasn't going to tell him there's an alligator in the backyard, because who would believe that," Davis-Brown said. FULL STORY

Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies on patrol in the badly damaged neighborhood of Fountaingrove in the North Bay happened upon one resident who hadn't left the area: a scared cat meowing under a car.
The cat, whose name is Milo, had apparently gotten close to the fire; officers noted that it had burned paws. FULL STORY

Miracle puppies, born the night Wine Country fires broke out, found in field near devastated Coffey Park - October 13

Linda Hamik had been trying to catch a stray chihuahua for two months. Hamik had seen it wandering around a small homeless encampment on College Avenue in Santa Rosa. About four weeks before the fires broke out, when she saw the sand-colored pup getting plump, Hamik suspected a pending puppy arrival.
"Then the fire happened," Hamik told SFGATE. FULL STORY

A particularly large black bear was seen roaming the streets of Kings Beach. The bear was caught on video peeking into businesses in the community north of Lake Tahoe.
The Placer County Sheriff's Department shared the video on its Facebook page with the caption, "WOW! Check out the size of this 'suspicious subject' that Deputy Nevins encountered in Kings Beach last night!" FULL STORY

Passengers were in for a slithery surprise when they encountered a snake curled on a seat of a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) bus in Palo Alto. How it ended up there remains a mystery.
The 2-foot-long ball python evidently had somewhere to be. FULL STORY

A million bees likely to die after truck full of hives overturns in Auburn - November 3

A truck carrying a million commercial pollinating bees crashed in Auburn. The crash combined with the rainy conditions hurt the bees beyond salvaging, likely requiring them to be euthanized. FULL STORY

Cat missing for 10 years reuniting with owner after surviving Tubbs Fire - November 4

After 10 years, a cat named Pilot reunited with his family after being discovered by a good Samaritan in the aftermath of the Tubbs Fire. An unnamed individual found Pilot in a neighborhood close to where his family used to live. Pilot had extensive burns on his ears and paws, and was severely dehydrated when he was found. FULL STORY

Massive lizard from New Guinea found in California backyard - November 4

A man in Riverside found a massive crocodile monitor lizard lounging in his backyard. The lizard was brought to the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley, where it was identified as a crocodile monitor lizard, a relative to the Komodo dragon, which is usually found in New Guinea.
Authorities correctly concluded that the lizard was somebody's escaped pet. FULL STORY

A 22-year-old man was arrested in Chino Hills on suspicion of repeatedly pouring boiling hot water on his girlfriend's dog.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department says it received a call from someone who witnessed the alleged animal cruelty. He told deputies Enping Qu poured boiling water on the dog at least five times while the animal was locked in a cage. FULL STORY

A couple in Monrovia (Los Angeles County) filmed a bear cub that entered their home to feast on some cat food.
"We always leave our slider cracked open about five inches to let my cats go in and out," Jenny Mark told KTLA. "We had a wood piece made to go in the bottom of the slider so you can't get the door open — they managed to both squeeze in." FULL STORY

San Francisco family finds wild boar, keeps it as a house pet - November 21

San Francisco residents learned firsthand why one should not bring a baby wild boar into a human abode.
For one, it's against state law. So too, young pigs tend to expand – and fast.
The San Franciscans found the young swine, whom they named Spirit, in the mountains near Mount Shasta in August. As summer turned to autumn the piglet grew, and grew, and grew. The owners eventually surrendered their pet pig to San Francisco Animal Care and Control. FULL STORY

A month after going missing, Squishy the cat is found 80 miles away in SF - November 28

The Lathrop (San Joaquin County) owner of a cat named Squishy is overjoyed after she got word that her pet was alive and well — despite being found miles and miles away on the streets of San Francisco. "We found out this cat had been missing," Maloney SF SPCA spokesperson Krista Maloney told SFGATE, adding, "We have no idea how Squishy got to San Francisco." FULL STORY

Firefighters were called to perform an unusual predawn rescue at a Piedmont home on Hampton Road when a deer got stuck in a metal fence on the property and could not wriggle herself free.
A homeowner in the neighborhood heard a loud noise before sunrise and looked outside to see the deer stuck in the fence. With her back legs caught, the trapped doe was kicking and bucking frantically in an attempt to get free of the fence, but to no avail. FULL STORY

Man declared a hero for saving rabbit along Highway 101 from massive wildfire - December 7

A frantic man pulled over along Highway 101 in La Conchita, a small unincorporated community in Ventura County, and alternated between throwing his hands on his head in disbelief and reaching for something in the flames.
After a long 15 seconds of panicking, he finds what he was looking for. The man picks up a small rabbit and carries it to safety. FULL STORY